Summary: No dad is perfect. We all have our ’moments’ Even Jesus dad had his ’moments." But thank God our children are resilient and can recover if we don’t give up and keep on loving and leading them as dads.

Anyone who has ever watched the Simpsons would have to agree that Homer Simpson is not your ideal dad. He is goofy, forgetful and does some really dumb things. I don’t believe any dad is as bad as Homer but to be honest with you there is a little Homer Simpson is all dads! And if I might challenge you, there was even a little Homer in Jesus dad, Joseph!

Now before you kill me or freak out, I am going to show you a Bible story that proves this out. We are going to start our reading this morning in the Gospel of Luke. But before we do.

Hold up your Bible

Here at Vineyard Community Church we want to encourage everyone to bring their Bibles to church on Sunday. Of all days, this should be at least the one day where you make sure you pick up your Bible and read at least one verse. I can promise you that we do that every Sunday here at church. So let’s hold up our Bibles and say what it says on the screen TOGETHER.

“This is God’s Word” I believe every word of it I will use it to guide my life.”

Psalm 119:99-100 “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.”Do you want to wise? Do you want to have understanding? Learn to meditate in God’s Word. Let’s turn to Luke 2:42:52

The family had gone from Nazareth to Jerusalem about 100 mile journey. Probably walked it with a large crowd of people. Took about a week walking. Then they spent a week in Jerusalem celebrating the Passover. When it was over they headed back north to their home in Nazareth.

Now here is the interesting part. Joseph and Mary did not notice Jesus was missing for an entire day! Now they probably had a few other children along with them at that time. We are told that Jesus had some brothers and sisters. So Joseph and Mary were preoccupied with the young ones for sure. But I find it interesting that they left Jerusalem without their oldest son! They did not notice Jesus was missing for an entire day? Can I say, “Communication breakdown!” Wonder what kind of conversation Joseph and Mary had as they walked back to Jerusalem. “I thought you were watching him. How could I watch him, I was watching the little ones!”

What would you think if you heard that I left one of my children in Cincinnati after we went there for a vacation and did not realize he was missing for an entire day? I have left my children sometimes at stores or lost them at fairs, but never for entire day!

Before I was married, when I read this story I was amazed at Jesus. “Wow at 12 years old he knew he was supposed to be about his father’s business. Wow!” Even after I was married I was still amazed how Jesus could have done this. But after I had a few children and I read this story I had a different perspective. “Jesus, how could you do this to us? You made us look like unfit parents with all our relatives. Man you are sooo grounded! You are sooo busted!”

Wow, that changes my view of Saint Joseph and Saint Mary. I always saw them as perfect parents. I always saw them as the ideal parents. Well I am sure they were good, but at least from this story we can see that they were not perfect.